Experience Over Expectation

About Experience Over Expectation

Experience Over Expectation is a storytelling podcast for people who’ve lived long enough to know that life rarely goes to plan—and beautiful things still unfold anyway. Hosted by Mary McCorvey, a Gulf War veteran, playwright, and serial reinventionist, this show explores what happens when we stop chasing the checklist and start honoring our lived experience. From long-lost love letters to second chances, invisible illnesses to unexpected careers, each episode offers honest, heart-centered reflections on identity, healing, aging, purpose, and the art of choosing again. This is a space for nonlinear lives, soulful pivots, and the beautifully messy middle. You won’t find perfect answers here—just real stories, tender truth, and permission to live on your own terms.

Publisher

Mary McCorvey

Category

business · health & fitness · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Jun 2025

Latest episode

30 Jan 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Jan 2026

   Don’t Say Crazy to Me: Marion Hoffman Koenig on Empathy, Mental Health Advocacy, and Turning Loss into Kindness

   In this episode of Experience Over Expectation, Mary McCorvey sits down with memoirist and mental health advocate Marion Hoffman Koenig, author of Don’t Say Crazy to Me. Marion’s story moves through grief, creativity, 1980s New York energy, and the strange, tender places where humor and death sit at the same table. We talk about what it means to be an empath, how empathy can help and how it can misfire, and why “crazy” is often just a lazy label for what someone does not understand. You will also hear practical grounding tools Marion uses in real life, including square breathing, plus a powerful reminder: you can show up for someone in pain without losing yourself. Get the books Don’t Say Crazy to Me (Marion Hoffman Koenig) Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Say-Crazy-Me-Sinatra-ebook/dp/B0FVGF7Z75 (https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Say-Crazy-Me-Sinatra-ebook/dp/B0FVGF7Z75) Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-say-crazy-to-me-marion-hoffman-koenig/1148689899 (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-say-crazy-to-me-marion-hoffman-koenig/1148689899) Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242577401-don-t-say-crazy-to-me (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242577401-don-t-say-crazy-to-me) Experience Over Expectation (Mary McCorvey) Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FPJ9NK4H?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FPJ9NK4H?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100) Connect with Marion LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marion-koenig/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marion-koenig/)

2. 

   29 Dec 2025

   Eternity in Mind: Rev. Dr. Frank Selden on Chronic Illness, Faith, and Choosing to Stay

   Frank Selden came to a cemetery ready to end his life and walked away with one question: “What if my actions in this life affect what comes next?” In this episode of Experience Over Expectation, I sit down with Rev. Dr. Frank Selden, a former Army National Guard officer and JAG detachment veteran, and a respected tax and estate attorney who helped thousands of entrepreneurs build with calm, clarity, and care. Then chronic, late stage Epstein Barr and related complications changed everything. Frank went from high performance and a full life to being in bed most of the day with no clear medical cure, and he reached a breaking point at Tahoma National Cemetery in Washington State. What happened next, and what he did with that moment, became the beginning of a rebuilt life, reshaped faith, and a slow, deliberate return to meaning. Frank now serves others through trauma informed men’s work, functional medicine exploration, spiritual training, and writing for those living with chronic illness, pain, and mental health struggles. His upcoming autobiography tells the story, and the long work of learning to live again with eternity in mind. Guest Resource SoulBuilding: https://soulbuilding.life/ (https://soulbuilding.life/) About the guest Frank Selden is a former Army National Guard officer and JAG detachment veteran, attorney, and trauma informed guide. After chronic illness changed the trajectory of his life, he rebuilt through spiritual training, functional medicine exploration, and men’s work. In his soon to be released autobiography, he shares his candid account of a suicide attempt, a faith questioned and reshaped, and the slow, intentional work of learning to live again with eternity in mind. About the host Mary McCorvey is the author of Experience Over Expectation: Let Go of the Plan, Live on Your Terms, and host of the Experience Over Expectation podcast.

3. 

   28 Nov 2025

   Harmony, Suffering, and Sovereignty: Robin H. Clare on The Frequency of True Success

   What if success is not another achievement, it is a frequency you learn to live in In this conversation, I sit down with Robin H. Clare, best selling author, creator of The Harmony Method, and a spiritual recovery guide whose work is grounded in her own forty year journey through obsessive compulsive food disorder and bulimia. Her new book, Harmony, The Frequency of True Success, offers a path for aligning your inner life with your outer purpose so that success stops being a scoreboard and becomes something quieter and more powerful, ease, authenticity, and sovereignty. We talk about messages from the divine, addiction to suffering, recovery as an integrated mind body spirit emotional journey, and what it means to live in harmony in a world that seems designed for discord. In this episode The origin story of The Harmony Method, awareness, commitment, mastery, service, leadership, and freedom How alignment between inner truth and outer purpose helps us manage expectations Robin’s journey as a “sacred messenger” and what it feels like to receive spiritual guidance The role of Sophia and the divine feminine in healing addiction and suffering Why Sophia says there is only one true addiction, suffering, and everything else is a secondary expression Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional, how surrender and grace open the door to recovery Writing from addiction versus writing from recovery, and why Robin left both voices in her book Practical tools, the pause, cutting energetic ties, and letting others be themselves without losing your center About Robin H. Clare Robin H. Clare is the creator of The Harmony Method, a transformational framework for restoring balance, clarity, and alignment. She is a best selling author, speaker, podcaster, writing coach, retreat leader, energy healer, and recovery coach whose work is grounded in her sustained recovery from a forty year battle with obsessive compulsive food disorder and bulimia. She has been named among the “10 Best Life and Business Coaches” and “10 Best Energy Healers” by Natural Nutmeg readers for seven consecutive years. Connect with Robin Website: https://www.robinhclare.com/ (https://www.robinhclare.com/) Books: https://www.robinhclare.com/books (https://www.robinhclare.com/books) Work with Robin: https://www.robinhclare.com/engage (https://www.robinhclare.com/engage) YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RobinHClare (https://www.youtube.com/@RobinHClare) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinhclareauthor (https://www.facebook.com/robinhclareauthor) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robin_h_clare/ (https://www.instagram.com/robin_h_clare/) Connect with Mary Website: https://www.marymccorvey.com (https://www.marymccorvey.com) Substack, Experience Over Expectation: https://marymccorvey.substack.com 📘 Mary’s book Experience Over Expectation, Let Go of the Plan, Live on Your Terms is available on Amazon and wherever you get your books.

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